Judge Files Contempt Charge After Arrest Against ICE Official

Oh, this one’s a real powder keg. Let’s talk about a courtroom, a plainclothes ICE agent, a Dominican national accused of lying on a license application, and a judge who didn’t just raise an eyebrow—he slammed the gavel so hard, it echoed across jurisdictions. Buckle up, because this one’s got all the ingredients for a legal showdown with national implications.

So here’s the scene: Brian Sullivan, an ICE agent dressed like your average dude in Boston, posts up outside a courthouse. Inside, Wilson Martell-Lebron—allegedly an undocumented immigrant going by another name, Juan Carlos Baez—is starting his trial over a license application fraud charge.

But no sooner had the opening statements begun than ICE makes its move. Martell-Lebron steps outside… and bam, he’s grabbed, whisked away, and driven to a detention facility. No courtroom return. No cross-examination. No due process.

That’s when Judge Mark Summerville blew the lid off. He didn’t just criticize the move—he held Sullivan in contempt of court. Yeah, that’s serious. According to the judge, this wasn’t just a legal overstep—it was a deliberate, premeditated act that sabotaged Martell-Lebron’s constitutional right to a fair trial. And let’s be real, when a judge accuses a federal agent of “conspiring” to prevent justice from unfolding, that’s more than courtroom drama. That’s a legal emergency.

Summerville tossed the charges against Martell-Lebron, calling the arrest “a violation of the defendant’s right to be present at trial and confront witnesses.” Sullivan now faces a contempt charge that’s landed on the desk of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, who, by the way, was not happy. His office was planning to try the case and wasn’t clued into ICE’s operation. Cue the finger-pointing.

Meanwhile, ICE isn’t apologizing. They’re doubling down, claiming Martell-Lebron is a repeat offender with past drug trafficking charges. Trump’s former border czar Tom Homan even resurfaced, breathing fire about sanctuary cities like Boston “releasing animals back into the community.”

Yes, he said that. Homan’s promising to bring “hell to Boston” and insists sanctuary policies are shielding violent criminals.

And here’s where it all converges: Boston’s status as a sanctuary city, Mayor Michelle Wu’s immigrant-friendly policies, and Trump’s administration using every lever of federal power to disrupt that framework—especially in his second term.

ICE’s tactics have ramped up, even rolling back the old Obama-era rulebook that kept arrests away from courthouses and schools. Now, those same halls of justice are open hunting grounds if ICE deems it “credible.”